


I would love you to be here, holding me now

by A_Tomb_With_A_View



Series: SonsetCurve’s holiday event 2020 [8]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Just because they’re adults doesn’t mean they’re not disasters, M/M, This is a fun thing I like to call, This is just some guys being dudes being gays, alternate title lol, bevause I have a Christmas song theme to follow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28228416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View
Summary: Alex knew something was up the second Ray turned an expression that he’d definitely learned from Luke on him.“So, Alex,” he said, voice uncharacteristically tight with nerves. “I’d say we’ve come pretty far, right?”“Oh, god.” Alex tucked himself further into Luke’s side. “What do you want?”Ray ‘tch’ed lightly. “Someone’s grumpy today. I would like to make a super special and fun Christmas baking request.”Alex relaxed. “Oh, cool, I thought you were gonna tell me you wanted my help getting with Bobby, thank god.”
Relationships: Alex & Ray Molina, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Ray Molina & Luke Patterson, Ray Molina & Reggie, Ray Molina/Bobby | Trevor Wilson
Series: SonsetCurve’s holiday event 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055348
Comments: 47
Kudos: 276





	I would love you to be here, holding me now

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t ask me what this is, I genuinely don’t know, but here’s the resolution to Ray/Bobby lol  
> Also, yes, baking zimtsterne really is this stressful, I did not expect it to be that hard but they’re delicious  
> enjoy day eight of [@sonsetcurve’s](https://sonsetcurve.tumblr.com/) Christmas event 2020, with the prompt being Christmas cookies

Alex knew something was up the second Ray turned an expression that he’d definitely learned from Luke on him. 

“So, Alex,” he said, voice uncharacteristically tight with nerves. “I’d say we’ve come pretty far, right?”

“Oh, god.” Alex tucked himself further into Luke’s side. “What do you want?” 

Ray ‘tch’ed lightly. “Someone’s grumpy today. I would like to make a super special and fun Christmas baking request.” 

Alex relaxed. “Oh, cool, I thought you were gonna tell me you wanted my help getting with Bobby, thank god.”

“Why would you- know what? Nevermind, I don’t wanna know, you kids and your wild imaginations, huh?” Ray spluttered, cheeks a suspicious shade of pink. 

“I’ll let that slide, for now, but know you’re not fooling anyone.” Alex narrowed his eyes, kicking his feet into Reggie’s lap. “Anyway, what do you want to bake?” 

Ray shot him a dirty look. “Shush, you. Uh, so it’s not French, so don’t hate me for this, but I was thinking maybe cinnamon stars?” 

“Oh, zimtsterne?” Alex asked, pouting at Reggie until the other ghost tossed a blanket over him. “Yeah, we can do those. I’ve never made them, but my mom’s cousin moved to Germany when I was, like, nine, so I’ve had them before.” 

“Awesome.” Ray grinned. “I was thinking, maybe…Monday?” 

Luke snorted. “Oh, you mean the Monday when Bobby is coming over so you can finish making arrangements for the Molina-Wilson family Christmas?” 

Ray choked on his coffee. “I’m gonna disown all of you, I swear.” 

Reggie made a wounded sound, and looked up at Ray with the biggest, glassiest eyes Alex had ever seen.. “Me too?” 

“No, no, of course not, mijo,” Ray assured him immediately. “You can stay, you’ve always been my favourite.”

“Hey!” 

——

“Before we even start,” Alex said as he started getting bowls out of the cupboard, trying to ignore the itching of the Santa hats Reggie had jammed on both their heads. “Can we be totally honest and just acknowledge that you’re baking German biscuits because you want to impress Bobby, and you making French stuff isn’t impressive because my mom was French and she taught me to bake.” 

Ray immediately went red, which was a pretty interesting match with his hat. “I’m not - I wouldn’t - ...you don’t seriously-”

“Dad!” Alex put everything down and grabbed Ray’s shoulders. “We totally approve, stop losing your fucking head.” 

“You… you don’t mind?” He asked eventually, searching Alex’s face for some kind of sign of deception. “I mean, it’s not serious, and if you think it’s weird then I can totally just not do anything, and I still have to talk to Julie and Carlos, and Victoria, and that’s all before I even consider possibly mentioning it to Trev- Bobby, so if you’re not okay with it, then…” 

Alex softened and pulled Ray into a hug. “Please don’t tell me you’re scared we won’t think you’re good enough for our Bobbers?” 

“It’s not that. Um. Well, not exactly? I just don’t want to intrude, or anything,” Ray explained. “I mean, at the end of the day it’s Bobby’s decision, but I don’t want to make any of you uncomfortable.” 

Alex pulled back enough to make eye contact, hoping it would help drive his point home. “I really want you to listen to me here, otherwise I’m gonna have to defer to Reg and Luke to emotionally devastate you with a four page essay - each, Jules can write Reg’s for him - about how incredible you are, but you and Julie and Carlos are the best things that have happened to us, not just since we died. Luke ran away from home at sixteen, Reg’s parents argued every single point to death right in front of him, and mine never forgave me for having the audacity to not be perfect, and you took all of us, and you gave us a family and a home and you made us believe that we are worthy and able of being loved by more than each other. If anything, Bobby isn’t good enough for  _ you.  _ Understand?” 

Ray laughed weakly. “Yeah, kiddo. I get it. I’ll… I’ll talk to him, okay?” 

“Good.” Alex nodded, satisfied. “None of this stupid self deprecation, papa. It’s unbecoming. Now can you get me the eggs?” 

“Julie told me you’ve started speaking French again,” Ray said as he did so, not even trying to hide the subject change. “What’s that all about?” 

Alex shrugged awkwardly and grabbed the weighing scales. “Julie’s a snitch.” 

Ray snorted and hip-checked Alex as he passed to grab the almond flour and icing sugar. “Julie’s just proud of her brother. Fess up.” 

“I just…” he shrugged again helplessly, busying himself with separating the egg whites so he wouldn’t accidentally make eye contact. “I guess I realised that I’m not  _ winning  _ or proving anything to her by refusing to speak a language that meant so much to me? France was my safe space for my whole life, y’know? Just because I lost my mom and dad doesn’t mean I lost that.” 

“Hey, I’m proud of you... Do you maybe wanna tell me about France? How much icing sugar do we need?” 

“We need two hundred grams, which is… uh… seven ounces?” Alex winced, wishing, once again, that he had Reggie’s mind for maths. “I don’t know, I think seven. And what do you wanna know?” 

Ray shrugged and started adding sugar to the scale without bothering to google the correct conversion. “Whatever you want to tell me. Where did you go? What did you do? What did you like about it?”

Alex blinked. “Oh, wow. Okay. Um, so my mom’s family lived in Biarritz, which is in the south, near Spain, but I’ve visited a whole bunch of places. I really liked Avignone and Brittany, but Paris is pretty cool too.” 

“Oh, I’ve been to Paris,” Ray said. “The macarons we had were disappointing, but I think having churros and hot chocolate in the street for breakfast was the most soul-soothing thing I’ve ever done.” 

“Oh, I  _ love  _ churros,” Alex agreed, tipping the egg whites into a mixing bowl. “Best breakfast food ever. As for what we did… Uh, my sister and I surfed a lot, and we did a lot of hiking and snorkelling? We liked to watch the sunrise from Rocher de la Viege, and there’s the Musèe de la Mer which is  _ so  _ cool.” 

Ray sat on the side to watch him mix, but Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “These are for  _ you  _ to woo someone, dad, not me. You’re up.” 

“Are you sure?” Ray asked, pulling a face. “Like… are you  _ sure?”  _

Alex nodded firmly. “Get mixing.” 

He sighed and hopped back off the counter. “I’m probably gonna jinx it, usually you’re the one panicking while we bake, I don’t know if it’ll work if I’m the one panicking.” 

“Well, the thing you’re panicking about is stupid, because Bobby is besotted with you, Carrie things you’re cool, Julie and Carlos love him, and we, his very best friends in the whole world, think you’re the best person in the world,” Alex reminded him. “Now mix.” 

Ray obliged, bumping his shoulder against Alex’s. “Tell me more about France?” 

“Oh, um. I guess it was just so calm? My dad didn’t go usually, so we just spoke French the whole time, and even though English is easier to express myself in, French feels… better, sometimes? It’s harder to be misinterpreted, I feel, because there’s not so many colloquial meanings for one phrase,” Alex winced, unsure if he’d managed to convey what he meant. 

Ray nodded and poured in the lemon juice. “I know what you mean. Rose always told me she felt the same about Spanish. What about surfing? I guess you’ve never mentioned sports outside of track, so, you any good?” 

Alex snorted. “I am now, but it took many,  _ many  _ years of spending six hours a day every day every holiday for twelve years in the water to get there, plus two hours a day every other day for the rest of the year. I was terrible when I was little.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be a pro-surfer at five, mijo,” Ray teased, testing the consistency of the mixture. “Is this good? And every holiday? Even Christmas?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Alex nodded and grabbed a bowl and spatula. “Lemme just spoon out a quarter, then we can add the almond flour and spices. And yeah, even Christmas. We had to wear wetsuits and stuff, and we couldn’t spend as long in the water, but we loved it,” he explained as he scooped out a chunk of the mixture. 

Ray waited for him to finish, then sieved in the icing sugar and started whisking. “I wish I could surf. I can skate, I can swim, I can bodyboard, but for the life of me, I just cannot surf.” 

Alex waved a hand. “Everyone can surf. Maybe you’ve just not found a method that works for you yet. We’re in California, there’s no way I’m not teaching you to surf.” 

“You can do your best, but I’ve tried a million times. It just won’t happen.” 

“I’ll get you to surf even if it kills me,” Alex promised, adding in the almond flour. “Uh, again.” 

Ray snorted. “I’m pretty sure it will kill you.” He scooped in cinnamon and ginger, blatantly ignoring the measurements in the recipe.

——

“There’s no way the mix is meant to be this sticky,” Alex insisted, prodding it. “How do we roll it out? How do we cut it? How do we do literally anything with it?”

Ray peered over his shoulder. “I… yeah… that can’t be right. Right?” 

Alex shrugged. “Check the recipe?” 

“Hmm…no, it says it should be sticky. We have to roll it out between sheets of baking. Doesn’t say how we’re supposed to pick it up once we’ve cut it out, though,” Ray told him. 

“I’m so uncomfortable,” Alex whispered, tipping the batter onto the parchment paper. “I hate this. Why is it wet? It looks like vomit. Or porridge. Why does it look like porridge?” 

“For once I’m in the same boat, kiddo.” Ray nodded. “It’s disgusting. It looks so gross.” 

Alex prodded it again and shuddered. “I have never in my life seen a biscuit dough that looks like that. Did we underneath the meringue or is it genuinely supposed to look like that?” 

“I don’t… I’m so confused. I don’t even know,” Ray admitted. 

Alex laid down a second sheet of baking paper on top of it. “I’m genuinely just supposed to roll this?” He sighed, muttering under his breath, “Cela ne fonctionnera jamais, est-ce?” 

“I don’t speak French, kiddo, but if you were saying something about it how this is an impossible task, I agree…” he sighed. “I have to roll it out, don’t I?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Alex nodded. “I’m not going anywhere near that.” 

“Lovely.” 

——

“Is it gonna peel off or-?” 

“I don’t even know.”

——

“Alex, I’m so sorry for putting you through this,” Ray said from behind Alex, watching as he scraped balls of batter off the parchment paper. They’d tried their best to cut it out using a cookie cutter, but it had become apparent pretty fucking quickly that it wasn’t going to work. The batter - and it was definitely batter, not dough - refused to be picked up off the baking paper in the shape it had been cut into, and in the end they’d agreed it would be easier just to scoop it up.

“Tell me what you like about Bobby,” Alex ordered, faking a gag as he rolled another chunk into a ball. 

“Wha-what?” Ray spluttered, ears burning. 

Alex grinned evilly over his shoulder. “To distract me, c’mon.” 

“Uhm. I guess… oh, I don’t know, you liked him too, you know what there is to like,” he muttered, avoiding looking at Alex.

“Well, yeah, but I got over him,” Alex reminded him.

“Yeah, because he broke your arm in three places, that doesn’t count,” Ray insisted.

Alex shrugged and finally finished laying out the biscuits. “Can you flatten these with a ladle whilst I make sure this meringue is whipped properly? And I see your point, but if Willie coerced me into a skating trick and I broke my arm in three places, I’m pretty sure I’d still be in love with him.” 

Ray banged his forehead against the counter. “Where did i go wrong? You’re such a fool?” 

“You’re not allowed to be mean to me, it’s Christmas,” Alex insisted, whisking the leftover meringue. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Julie could literally shoot Luke point blank and he’d still give her heart eyes.”

“... that’s true,” Ray conceded, attempting to flatten the lumps with a paddle he procured from the back of a cupboard. “But uh… I guess I like how good he is with the kids? He’s always been willing to step up to look after Julie and Carlos when Rose and I were busy, or wanted a date night. They’ve always seen him as parent number three, so in some ways he’s the easy option?”

Alex snorted. “He’s a member of Sunset Curve, he’s not an easy option.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Ray laughed. “It’ll be hard, dating someone with so little intelligence, but I think I can manage. But, he’s a good looking guy, and he loved Rose as much as I did, even if he loved her differently. He understands loss, I guess, but specially, he understands losing Rose.”

“Like how Willie gets losing your life and having to watch your family grow and move on?” Alex asked, rested his head on Ray’s shoulder. “Anf like how Julie understands losing your mom?” 

Ray nodded, giving up on the ladle, and instead flattening the biscuits with his hands. “Yeah, exactly. I’m never going to have to explain that this is a day I used to do something special with her, so I’m sad, because half the time he was there with us.” 

“I’m really happy for you,” Alex told him sincerely. “Really, really happy for you.”

“Thank you, mijo.” 

Alex pulled away to spoon meringue onto the top of each biscuit. “Y’know, they don’t sound like  _ any  _ of the reasons I liked him, though.”

“Well,” Ray grinned teasingly, “definitely some of it is that I’m still nineteen in my head and dating a rockstar is just the  _ dream.”  _

“Oh my god, ew, no.” Alex mimed gagging again. “Never do that again.” 

——

“Baby, you’re timer’s going off,” Willie murmured into Alex’s ear gently, lifting his arm of Alex’s chest so he could move. “You gotta go get your biscuits.”

“No, I’m sleeping,” Alex insisted, not even opening his eyes. “Tell dad to fix it.” 

Willie rolled his eyes and stared beseechingly up at Ray. “If you make me make him move, I’ll lose my date-planning rights for three weeks, and then the circus will have moved on to New Jersey, and Alex told me I’m never allowed to take him to New Jersey.”

Ray snorted, but obligingly went to fetch the biscuits. “What does Alex even have against New Jersey?” He called from the kitchen.

Alex yawned and tugged Willie’s hoodie further around himself. “It’s just a shitty state.”

“And his dad was a New Yorker,” Willie added.

“And my dad was a New Yorker,” Alex echoed.

Ray appeared in the doorway, tray in hand. “Alex, mijo, come here, we did it! They worked!” 

Alex made a pathetic whining sound, but got to his feet reluctantly anyways. “Oh, shit, wow. They do look good. Now Bobby will fall in love with you, and you can frolic off into the sunset.” 

Ray blushed but rolled his eyes. “If we frolicked off into the sunset, Carrie would instate a school-wide dictatorship, likely with Flynn’s help, Julie would forget to go to class, and you four - five - boys,” he nodded to Willie, who beamed, “would set this house, and likely Bobby’s, on fire.” 

Alex started to protest, but Willie cut him off. “Yeah, but you’d be frolicking, why would you care?” 

“Tìa Victoria,” Ray and Alex said at the same time. “She’d kill us all.” 

——

“Kids, get out of my kitchen,” Ray declared, attempting to shoo the boys and Julie out of the kitchen. “No Christmas planning can happen within earshot of you fools, especially none of this whoo-ing you’ve all insisted I should be doing!” 

Alex leaned forward to rest his chin on his hands, widening his eyes. He felt Reggie and Luke do the same either side of him. “But dad,” they started, before Ray cut them off. 

“Absolutely not.” Ray shook his head. “Go help Carrie plan world domination, or something.” 

Carlos lit up. “Really, dad? You mean it?” 

Ray winced. “God, I’m gonna regret this, but sure, mijo. Just… no actually enforcing without having Flynn looking over it, and without having Julie check it for anything actually harmful. Okay?” 

“Sure, I’ll be the best world dominator ever!” He shot forward to hug Ray, then ran out. 

Ray turned raised eyebrows on the rest of them. “Out, niños.” 

Julie sighed. “Okay, but only because I believe in you, and I think you and Bobby will be great, good luck!” She moved towards the door, grabbing Luke’s arm.

“No, Julie, you can’t just leave!” Luke insisted. “We gotta make sure Bobby treats Ray right! What if he says something really dumb, like that he’s a vegetarian, and then Ray remembers that Bobby is an  _ idiot,  _ and then they never get married and then Bobby doesn’t become our step-dad?” 

“Exactly,” Reggie agreed, stealing a biscuit off the tabke. “We need to be here to mediate. Oh my  _ god,  _ these are amazing.”

Ray clapped his hands together. “Boys, I love you very much, but I’ve known Bobby longer than any of you have, I promise this will be fine. And they are, aren’t they, Reg? I’m very proud of them.” 

“Oh, ew.” The four of them pulled a face. “Oh my god, why would you say that?” 

“Uh, because it’s true?” Ray reminded them. “Now, out.” 

“Ugh… fine.” Luke finally conceded, grabbed Reggie and Alex by the collar. “C’mon chucklefucks.” 

——

“Luke, shut  _ up,”  _ Alex hissed. “Bobby is about to kiss dad, and if you’re too loud, one of them will hear us, and then they won’t kiss, and then they’ll discount this as a one-off and never get together.”

Reggie whipped round to look at him. “Al, what in the name of Charlie Haden are you talking about?” 

Julie shushed them all, readjusting herself on Alex’s back so she could see through the window properly. “Shut up!” 

Luke glared at them, but quickly got distracted by Bobby cradling Ray’s jaw. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, it’s happening!” 

“Yeah, we can see that,” Alex snapped, crouching a little so Julie could see better. 

“I’m allowed to be excited.” Luke replied absently. “Bobby is actually forming a healthy human relationship.”

“Dude,” Reggie said. “Bobby has a daughter?” 

“Bobby’s  _ gay,”  _ Luke reminded him. “There’s no way that decision was made by a sound mind.” 

“Huh. Oh my god, they’re kissing!” 

“We’re gonna be a real family,” the four of them said as one. “Best. Christmas Present. Ever.” 

Julie sniffled, and wrapped her arm around Luke and Reggie. “You were always real family, idiots.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated if you enjoyed it :)) as always, i made a tiktok of myself baking the biscuits, so [ Go check it out ](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSnxh1Eg/)  
> You can also find me on [Tumblr](https://maybeiwanttheoceantoburn.tumblr.com/post/623186092532924416/master-list-for-everything-ive-written-so-far) If you wanna chat about anything :))  
> 


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